Burning Man founder Larry Harvey has countered criticism of the lack of racial diversity at the festival by saying that part of the reason there are so few black attendees (known as burners) is that “I don’t think black folks like to camp as much as white folks”.In an interview with the Guardian, Harvey vowed that “we’re not going to set racial quotas”, defended the presence of rich Silicon Valley executives at the festival, and said he will personally go undercover this week to investigate the luxurious camps of ultra-wealthy tech bosses said by the New York Times to boast chefs, air conditioning and servants.According to the most recent Black Rock city census, compiled yearly by a team of academic demographers and anthropologists to determine the makeup of the festival, 87% of burners identified as white; 6% identified as Hispanic, 6% as Asian, and 2% as Native Americans (figures rounded) – on the latter of whose ancestral lands the event occurs. The smallest demographic of burners – 1.3% – identified as black. According to the census, which also measures income, this means that the temporary city is home to twice as many people who earn $300,000 a year as it is to black people.The art of Burning Man: skeletons, temples and flaming TetrisRead moreSo given that the first of the festival’s 10 principles is “radical inclusion”, what does it mean that the festival’s vision of a utopian society is 90% white?“This has never been, imagined by us, as a utopian society,” Harvey answered. “I’ll believe in utopia when I meet my first perfect person, and this community is made up of 70,000 imperfect persons.“That being the case,” he continued, “I think it’s a little much to expect the organisation to solve the problem of racial parity. We do see a fast-increasing influx of Asians, black folks. I actually see black folks out here, unlike some of our liberal critics.”Dan Drahos dances at the Robot Heart during the morning hours at Burning Man.FacebookTwitterPinterestDan Drahos dances at the Robot Heart during the morning hours at Burning Man. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/ReutersBlack burners are not an abstract concept for Harvey: “My family is half black,” he said. “I see black people! And they’re here. Though I got a lot of criticism for once saying, ‘Well I don’t think black people like to camp’.” Harvey’s comment drew nervous laughter from other Burning Man staff and members of international media at a press conference before the Guardian’s interview. “There are some historic reasons for that, especially in the United States.”Asked later to expand on this, Harvey told the Guardian: “Remember a group that was enslaved and made to work. Slavishly, you know in the fields. This goes all the way back to the Caribbean scene, when the average life of a slave in the fields was very short. And, so, there’s that background, that agrarian poverty associated with things. Maybe your first move isn’t to go camping. Seriously.”The rest of the year, Harvey lives in the historically black Fillmore neighborhood of San Francisco. “My wife is from Jamaica. My ex-wife. My stepchildren – and then there’s my son. So, it’s a biracial family.“In my neighbourhood,” he added, “the thing to do was to get a good-looking car, and people would sit on stoops, and you’d stop your car in the middle of the street and you’d start talking. That was society. And that involved a lot of display, a lot of dress, a lot of attention to style. But the idea of getting down in the dirt? Not particularly popular.”“You think I am full of crap?” Harvey asked the Guardian. Not entirely: his responses are not entirely out of line with what some (though not all) black burners have told me.Participants gather to watch the flames from the art car El Popo Mechanico during Burning Man.FacebookTwitterPinterestParticipants gather to watch the flames from the art car El Popo Mechanico during Burning Man. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/ReutersBut Harvey had harsh words for a diversity consultant the organisation hired who “was black, and lesbian, and she had a niche in the nonprofit world, because they’re always trying to check off those boxes, in terms of quotas, so they can say [they are diverse].“At a certain point, she made a speech which was pro forma, which I didn’t know was the speech she always made, about the racial question. I said ‘Well, I don’t think black folks like to camp as much as white folks!’ And she said ‘You son of a bitch!’ And then there was a guy, who did a sort of white man shuffle in response, and said,” – Harvey dropped his voice – “‘We understand.’”Afterwards, Harvey went to the consultant. “I took it seriously, and I said, ‘Listen. You’ve got to have connections with all these black arts or community groups. And I will go anywhere and talk to anyone you direct me to.’ She never got back to me. And it’s only later I realised I had never seen her with a black person. She lived in a white nonprofit world. She didn’t really represent the black community. She